Mr Murphy said: “The world has changed in terms of how we deal with the Good Friday Agreement now. The impact of this event on the mutual confidence, trust and faith has been damaged very seriously.”

The Northern Secretary said it would be up to the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) to look at possible penalties or sanctions against Sinn Fein and he didn’t rule out an “early report” by the IMC.

Asked about a proposal from Democratic Unionist Party leader, Ian Paisley to proceed without Sinn Fein, the Northern Secretary and Mr Ahern reacted cautiously saying all options would be considered.